sago

American

[sey-goh] / ˈseɪ goʊ /

noun

a starchy foodstuff derived from the soft interior of the trunk of various palms and cycads, used in making puddings.

sago British

/ ˈseɪɡəʊ /

noun

a starchy cereal obtained from the powdered pith of a sago palm, used for puddings and as a thickening agent

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of sago

1545–55; earlier sagu < Malay

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Menus change seasonally here, but the current menu, Fight Club, highlights Indonesian ingredients like passionfruit with coconut and sago, and rosella with longan.

From Salon • Jul. 13, 2025

The surviving islanders were forced to cut down sago palm trees, a valuable source of food, and plant spice trees in their place.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

Mango pomelo sago is the top fruit tea: It harmonizes pulpy tart pomelo with slick sweet mangos and creamy cold slush.

From Washington Post • Sep. 8, 2022

She made upma with sago, the squishy pearls made from palm starch, and poha, the almost translucent pieces of dry, beaten rice, hydrated in a little water.

From New York Times • Aug. 25, 2021

Lowland New Guineans on the coast do obtain much fish and shellfish, and some lowlanders in the interior still live today as hunter-gatherers, subsisting especially on wild sago palms.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023